The present invention relates to a grommet apparatus and more particularly to a grommet apparatus for holding a wire which goes through an opening of a panel of a vehicle and so on.
Recently, a large variety of devices or parts are equipped in a vehicle and based on this, a plurality of wires for transmitting the electricity or the mechanical driving force are disposed in the vehicle. At a portion in which these wires go through an opening a panel of the vehicle, a grommet apparatus is used for protecting the wire or for preventing rain water from getting in through the opening. A conventional grommet apparatus of this kind is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Publication No.11-127527. As shown in FIG. 5, this grommet apparatus 80 includes a wire 81, a hard grommet 85 having a tubular wall 82, a base portion 92 and a flexible engaging portion 84 and a soft grommet 90 having a surrounding portion 87, a first seal portion 88 and a wire fitting portion 89. The tubular wall 82 and the base portion 92 contact with the wire 81. The flexible engaging portion 84 is formed on the tubular wall 82 and is engaged with a penetrating hole of a panel 83. The surrounding portion 87 surrounds the hard grommet 85. The first seal member 88 is extended from the surrounding portion 87 and is fluid-tightly contacted with the surface of the panel 83. The wire fitting portion 89 is fitted onto the wire 81.
In case of that the wire 81 transmits the driving force from a driving source such as a motor and so on, there is a case that the wire 81 swings in regard to the panel 83. In this case, since there is a clearance 91 between the hard grommet 85 and the panel 83 in the grommet apparatus 80, there is a possibility that the grommet apparatus 80 jounces in regard to the panel 83. If the jouncing movement of the grommet apparatus 80 is large, there is in danger that the sealing performance of the grommet apparatus 80 in regard to the panel 93 is decreased.
It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved grommet apparatus which overcomes the above drawback.
In order to attain the foregoing object, the present invention provides a grommet apparatus which includes a wire, a hard grommet having a having a tubular wall portion contacted with the wire, a base portion contacted with the wire and a flexible engaging portion formed on the tubular wall portion and engaged with an opening, and a soft grommet having a surrounding portion surrounding the hard grommet, a first seal portion extended from the surrounding portion and fluid-tightly contacted with a surface of the panel, a wire fitting portion fitted onto the wire and a second seal portion fitted between the opening and the hard grommet.